This application requests partial support for the 9th International Congress of the International Society of Neuroimmunology sponsored by the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI), which will take place in Fort Worth, Texas, from October 26 - 30, 2008. This will be the first Congress held in the United States since the 2nd International Congress held in Philadelphia in 1987. The congress will be preceded by a pre-congress program sponsored by the European School of Neuroimmunology, represented by leaders in the field of neuroimmunology. Drs. Michael K. Racke and Caroline C. Whitacre, are the Congress co-organizers. Dr. Whitacre is currently the Society's Vice-President and will become the President of ISNI at this meeting. She is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Congress. The funds requested will be used by the congress organizers to encourage the attendance of junior and minority investigators in the field of Neuroimmunology. This congress is the major event in the international neuroimmunology calendar and is held every 2 or 3 years. Anticipated attendance is 1,200-1,500. Our 2004 ISNI Congress in Venice hosted 1200+ attendees and Nagoya in 2006, 1000+ attendees. Due to the increasing recognition of the key role of the immune system in many neurological diseases, neuroimmunology has become an important and continuously expanding biomedical field, encompassing a wide variety of disciplines ranging from genetics, basic immunology and neurobiology, through neurochemistry, pharmacology, endocrinology, neuropathology and neuroimmunomodulation, to clinical immunology and neurology. The scientific program will focus on basic mechanisms of immune surveillance, including new techniques in neuroimaging, repair of the nervous system, nervous system regulation of immune responses, and immunologic mechanisms of neurologic diseases. A heavy emphasis on new therapeutic approaches (gene, cell and immune-based therapies) in neurologic diseases (multiple sclerosis, gliomas, paraneoplastic syndromes, neuromuscular disorders, psychiatric disease, HIV encephalitis, viral infections, etc.), will permeate the program. Stem cell research in neural repair and mechanisms of neurodegeneration will also feature prominently. This request is for travel funds and will be used to encourage young and minority investigators (pre- and postdoctoral) to attend from around the world, in particular from less developed countries. The selection of candidates will be carried out by a local organizing committee in the United States. Because of the heavy emphasis on translational research, Continuing Medical Education credits will be offered at the congress and support will be requested to cover the costs associated with the administration of disclosure information and the overall accreditation process, which will ensure all congress presentations are balanced and free of bias for the participants. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Neuroimmunology is of great relevance to most degenerative neurologic conditions because the nervous system is in constant communication with the immune system and responds to almost any type of stress. The nervous system produces molecules that interact with the immune system and vice-versa, leading to important interactions when inflammation occurs in the nervous system. Neuroimmunology has tremendous relevance to public health in that immune responses can be either blocked or modulated thus making them amenable to therapy. The enormous strides made in multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease in recent years have evolved from the application of therapeutic strategies that grew out of neuroimmunologic investigations. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]